Chapter 52: Hunted
"This is bad," Ingwer barely gasped in horror.
Bad wasn't enough to describe what everyone was seeing. It had been barely been three days since Franz Schmitz got attacked last Monday, making him the fourth victim in a row, and now, in less than a day, nineteen students at Dragon Hall were currently being taken into ambulances.
"8am," Ingwer said. "Adele Hitler and Gelyk Amon were found in a pool of blood right in front of their lockers." She said this while watching Hitler's daughter and Amon's son being taken away in an ambulance straight to Medea's Hospital.
"9am." Forkjølelse cupped his mouth in order to hold back a sob. "Napoleon Moriarty and Harold Frost got attacked after a mysterious blackout in Spiritual Villainy class. This really upset him, for the son of Professor Moriarty and the Bloody Countess and the son of Jack Frost were Fork's closest best friends.
"10:30am," Proserpine joined in. "Dìà Nàthòs, Kàly Àstèrìa, Crystàl Màzè, ànd Jèzèbèl Ràspùtìn wèrè fòund ìn thè gìrls' bàthròòm."
"11:45am. My sister Becky and almost the entire jeerleading squad were discovered," Sean said. His voice was full of guilt when he mentioned his sister being part of the victims currently being transported to the hospital. "Now I regret having yelled at her last Monday about being her partner for the inter-level week."
"Why on earth does this keep happening?" Ingwer asked as the last ambulance was seen leaving the school. "If I'm not mistaken, this now makes 23 students getting attacked in barely two weeks."
"Ànd thè mòst surprìsìng pàrt?" Proserpine added. "Dìà and Kàly wèrè àttàckèd ànd thèy'rè mìnòr gòddèssès. Mìnòr gòddèssès, fòr cryìng òut lòud!" The point she made just proved how much fear was beginning to develop in Dragon Hall: Dia Nathos, the daughter of the evil god Anathos, and Kaly Astéria, daughter of the immortal Kalandre, were minor goddesses who transferred a couple years ago to the Isle of The Lost from Tartarus, the evil gods' own prison, since they weren't powerful enough to be kept in such a prison. They were close friends of Proserpine, her being both the demigod daughter of Hades and a spiritual voodoo priestess, and the fact that even minor deities had fallen prey to such assaults had made quite an impact.
"Attention, students!" Headmaster Facilier spoke through the megaphone. "Dragon Hall's student body is experiencing unusual assaults for uncertain reasons, and no, this does not mean that classes are over. To ensure and enforce the safety and reputation of our school, students will be supervised by faculty members at all-times. At least one chaperone will be placed in each hallway, classroom, the Cruella-teria, the gymnasium, the jeerball field, in front of each bathroom, and at every field trip."
"Oh, so we're basically stuck in a prison within a prison?" Stiff Tannen retorted from somewhere among the crowd of students gathered in the hallways.
"Dude, get real!" Mystère shouted. "We're being hunted here!"
"Get real yourself, blue boy!"
Next thing you knew, students began to argue one against the other on who would live, who wouldn't, who would be hunted, etc. Teachers were struggling to restrain students on the verge of brutally beating up some other students.
"This is a nightmare," Fork said while he, Proserpine, Ingwer, and Sean were standing on one of the spiral staircase's upper levels in order to watch and avoid the conflicts occurring on the main floor. "Whoever is causing this could take the advantage to strike at any moment with everyone conflicting against one another."
The son of Jadis the White Witch had unfortunately made a strong point: with so many arguments going on among the students and the teachers trying to restrain them like wild animals being dragged in cages, the culprit could be waltzing down the halls, trying to find the perfect next victim.
"Will you look at that, Jessie." The group turned to see Penna De Mort showing Jessie Joker the crowd of chaotic descendants. Penna watched the crowd with a rather disturbingly amused smile the same way a dreadful circus clown laughed manically. "Villains fighting against villains. What better way to enjoy a Thursday afternoon!"
"Yòu knòw, fòr sòmèònè às èvìl às yòu àrè, yòu dòn't sèèm vèry wòrrìèd àbòut thè àttàcks," Proserpine coldly remarked. The purple-skinned demon turned to confront the group with her bluish eyes full of venom and cold emitted by a stone heart.
"Is there an issue with me enjoying other's sufferings?" The way she asked this so calmly was so disturbing indeed. It almost sounded as if she was eager to hear them say something they might regret, only for her to strike at them like a python attacking a helpless mouse.
"Gee, I don't know." Sean pretended to think. "Maybe because we're wondering how come you're not freaking out about the idea of being a future victim?" His response made Jessie Joker give a nasty scoff.
"Puh-lease! You're talking to Voldemort's daughter here!" She referred to Penna like a goddess. The latter certainly liked the respect she was getting from her lackey. "If Maleficent herself was afraid to lift her pinkie in front of Penna, than what does Penna have to fear from some psycho attacking teenagers?"
"Let's go, Jessie," Penna said smugly, ushering her friend to follow her up the stairs. "They obviously can't understand what it's like to be evil incarnate like me."
"Ugh!" Sean grunted as soon as the duo was out of sight. "More like a egoistic pain in the neck! Honestly, if I had to pick between an entire high school year with her lurking around or having my mom doom me to dishwashing duty using only my bare hands, no tentacles, and no magic- which I can't even master, I'd pick the dishwashing!"
"That would be the first time I hear you wish for one of those horrible chores you claim Ursula gives you daily." Ingwer frowned and crossed her arms in impressment.
"Trust me on this one, Ingwer," Fork sided with Sean as the group went downstairs when it seemed like the chaos soothed. "I've seen the horrors Sean gets inflicted with from Ursula's chores..."
He got cut off when an alarm was suddenly heard. Every student froze while teachers and the rest of the staff took their positions.
"What's going on?" Headmaster Facilier demanded.
"It's Sirenius Dazzle!" Carlos Raditz, the son of Raditz, came rushing into the scene. "He got attacked!"
"Oh, so that's what the siren's for," Ingwer realized.
"Àt lèàst thèy gòt thàt còvèrèd," Proserpine replied sarcastically while Professor Adagio Dazzle rushed to ask Carlos Raditz if her son was harmed.
"Don't worry, he actually survived." His reply made the Siren Music teacher sigh in relief. "He used his siren scream to protect himself. Unfortunately, whoever tried to attack him tried to run away..."
"Where's the attacker right now?" Facilier asked.
"The last time I saw him or her, he or she was being hunted by Ruby Kyle in the South sector of Dragon Hall..."
At the South Sector
The door of General Evil Monarchy class shattered as Ruby roughly pushed the attacker through it. Whoever the attacker was, he or she was giving Ruby a tough fight. Punches were given on the face, sides got hit, the window got smashed, leaving glass shards on the floor in positions were they could cut the two conflicting beings.
Finally, the attacker managed to pin her down by the arms and was now threatening her neck with a jagged dagger. Deep within, Ruby's soul screamed to not give up. Whoever the aggressor was and why ever he was doing it, he or she had attacked innocent kids at Dragon Hall. Some were her enemies, some were people she hardly knew, and some were her friends. The aggressor had even attacked Crystal, Jareth's daughter, and one of Ruby's closest friends ever since she came to the Isle.
"I...can't...give up," she told herself as the blade got closer.
'Rebecca Kyle, for your mercenary crimes and your relations to villainy by blood and alliances, you are sentenced to a lifelong imprisonment on the Isle Of The Lost,' the judge said in her head.
'You need to be careful whenever you use those adamantium nails,' the scientist who gave her adamantium surgery joined in. 'They may affect your body's metabolism depending on how you use them.'
'To think that the Shadow Seeker was so easy to be toyed with,' Jim Gordon mocked her head. 'I mean, she thought she was merely fetching a stolen monkey idol from Monkey Fist and his bastard son, but she was only a pawn to lead us to those criminals capture. Not to mention that, by stealing their actual property, she just increased her criminal record.'
"GAAAAAH!" Ruby yelled, not realizing that her right hand went straight inside the aggressor's chest and her nails were burying deep inside the skin. She kicked the body off her, leaving blood on her hand and adamantium nails. Heavy, yet unstable breaths came out of her mouth as she struggled to get on her feet and see the horror that lay in front of her. She didn't even hear the sounds of footsteps approaching, for her dizzy head was making her lose consciousness.
Ruby Kyle had just killed a person.
